B Manawatu Car Club Inc MAGAZINE APRIL 2019 Something for Everyone Page 1 of 37 EDITORSPEAK… Email Trevor at [email protected] Interesting to read President Richie’s piece about inappropriate driving behaviour in the March magazine. I had cause, for the first time in my life, to ring *555 last month. Let me set the scene. A straight piece of road leading out of Waiuku, initially with a 70kph limit, then changing to 100kph about halfway along. At the end of the straight a sweeping ninety right with an intersection right in the middle of it, a notorious spot for accidents. A Ute behind me, and another behind that. As I passed the 100kph sign I put my foot down and went up to 100 as usual. Looked in the mirror to see the last Ute overtake the one immediately behind. No problem, plenty of room and visibility. But...... I looked again and he was just keeping going on the wrong side of the road clearly intent on passing me even though there was equally clearly insufficient room to do so!!! I had to brake hard and veer left to give him room to pull in front as there was no way he was backing off, but even so he was halfway around the bend, with no visibility, before he was able to completely regain the left hand side of the road. If another vehicle had chosen to come the other way God only knows what the mess would have been. Unbelievable. Rare drive. My brother in law has always had good taste in cars, including, amongst others, an HK Monaro and an XU1 Torana back in the day, though latterly it’s been a succession of performance Mercedes, several being of the AMG persuasion. So, I should have clicked when I spotted a shiny new Mustang parked in the corner of his shed. The Dark Highland Green paint SHOULD have immediately given it away. Should have, but didn’t – am I getting old? Anyway, the penny finally dropped as I walked over to admire it. It was only one of the 50 Limited Edition Bullitt cars Ford brought to NZ wasn’t it? After a good scrutiny - “Hop in, we’ll go for a drive. No not that side, you drive”. Need to be asked twice?? I think not!! Well, I have driven Falcon GTs and FPVs but I have to admit that this thing was on another level. I didn’t find the extra kW over the standard GT ‘cause it was bloody quick as it was. Just the exhaust noise alone as you approached the 7400 redline was addictive. How you could drive it anywhere without a silly grin I do not know. And yet, even though it was manual, you could (at a push) give it to your Gran to take shopping, it really was so easy to drive. Impressed – much!! I apologise if I seem to have a love / hate relationship with Auckland Transport. It’s just that they are such an easy target sometimes and I believe we really should push back if we don’t agree with any Government or Council direction. I am currently in a discussion with them, so I am doing my pushing back!! The reason I discuss their policies here is because many other Councils are eagerly watching what they are doing, so it could be coming to you..... AT’s proposed plan to reduce speed limits on 10% of the roading network has just reached a climax, with public consultation closing at the end of March...... and it’s gathered quite a backlash. While I agree in principle with the concept (as I have stated before, it’s simple physics that less speed = less damage), and their apparent targeting of more vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists, what concerns me is that rural roads have been targeted so heavily (90%) and the extent to which these roads will be affected. Imagine, if you will, that the entire journey from Feilding to the Saddle Road, via Halcombe, was an 80 kph effort, with Halcombe and Ashhurst at 30kph. And every surrounding road that radiates off was restricted to 60 kph. Add in Napier Road from the city to Ashhurst, and all the surrounding roads. That’s the scenario that could be put in place in our neck of the woods, with the arterial routes out of Waiuku to Pukekohe and Drury becoming 80kph zones. This despite the fact that deaths on those roads have been very few and far between, and are largely concentrated in a handful of notorious blackspots (two now with a speed camera and appropriate signage – that’s a big thumbs up AT). The backlash is clear. 730 kms of rural roads targeted vs 70 kms of urban. Is this consistent with the message of protecting the most vulnerable road users? All their media releases point to death risk percentages of car vs pedestrian accidents, with nothing to back up the reasons for targeting rural roads except their Vision ZERO. Page 2 of 37 AT’s Vision ZERO aims to have no deaths on the Super City’s roads. Admirable, I guess. As a goal maybe, but realistically??? I was always taught to set goals that stretched you but were realistic to achieve. Humans are a fallible species. We make mistakes. You cannot legislate for that. The currently quoted figures by AT are 64 deaths per year (2017). We will ignore the fact that they have been reducing year on year, and in fact were just 43 in the last 12 months. From a population estimated in 2016 to be 1.66 million. That’s less than 0.04%. A half of a hundredth of one percent. I’d actually consider that pretty reasonable. Statistically it is insignificant. And yes, before you call me a cold hearted callous bastard, I am personally aware of the impact of a death on a family. However, take the emotion out of the rhetoric and it seems to me that AT (a group made up of non-elected Board members, with no accountability to those that pay their wages – the ratepayers) may be creating a solution to a problem that simply doesn’t exist. I always read the “Fire & Emergency Roundup” in the local paper where they list by date the Fire Service callouts. It’s great for a laugh. Last month they had a callout for “Public toilet on fire”. I’m picking it must have been a hell of a curry!!! That’s it from me. Remember to keep the rubber side down TW Page 3 of 37 EVENTS CALENDAR … APRIL 2019 Saturday 6th GT Oil / Transpec Track Day Series Round 1 Sunday 7th Mitre 10 MEGA Sumer Race Series Round 3 (FINAL) MAY 2019 Saturday 4th Alfa May Madness (AROC) Sunday 10th Mitre 10 MEGA SRS Prize Giving Saturday 25th Drift Tutoring Session JUNE 2019 Saturday 1st Test Day & Drift Practice Sunday 2nd Feilding Auto Electrical Winter Series Race Meeting Round 1 Sunday 16th GT Oil / Transpec Manfeild Full Track Bent Sprint 4.5 km JULY 2019 Saturday 7th Test Day Sunday 8th Feilding Auto Electrical Winter Series Race Meeting Round 2 Sunday 14th GT Oil / Transpec Track Day Series Round 2 AUGUST 2019 Saturday 3rd Test Day Sunday 4th Feilding Auto Electrical Winter Series Race Meeting Round 3 Sunday 18th GT Oil / Transpec Back Track Motorkhana & Autocross Saturday 31st Test Day Page 4 of 37 SEPTEMBER 2019 Sunday 1st Feilding Auto Electrical Winter Series Race Meeting Round 4 Sunday 15th GT Oil / Transpec Track Day Series Round 3 OCTOBER 2019 Saturday 12th Drift Practice Saturday 19th OctoberFAST Day 1 Sunday 20th OctoberFAST Day 2 NOVEMBER 2019 Saturday 2nd ShowVember Sunday 3rd GT Oil / Transpec Track Day Series Round 4 (Final) Friday 15th MG Classic Test Day Saturday 16th MG Classic Race Meeting Sunday 17th MG Classic Race Meeting DECEMBER 2019 Saturday 7th MCC Club Fun Day Sunday 8th Mitre 10 Summer Race Series Round 1 “Track & Yak” Time: 7pm to 9pm Date: Tuesday 9th April 2019. Place: Rose and Crown Olde English Pub, Terrace End Carpark, Palmerston North Why not pop down and have a chat about what is happening on and off of the race track! Page 5 of 37 SUMMER RACE SERIES Round 3 – Manfeild – Sunday 7th April ‘19 4 Classes, Qualifying plus 4 x 6Lap Races per Round Entry Fee: $220 for MCC Members - $250 for non-MCC Members Page 6 of 37 MCC COMMITTEE President: Richie Arber - 027 2900 668 Vice President / Treasurer: Tim Wilde - 0274 729 664 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Club Secretary / Events Manager: Jeff Braid - 027 477 3337 Email: [email protected] Your 2019 Committee: Jill Hogg Noel Beale Jaron Olivecrona Greg Browne Gareith Stanley Aaron Walker Phillip Keith Kaye Flannagan Sean Browne Club Patrons: Robert Lester, Terry Rush, Russell Harris, Brian Davies . Life Members: Steve Bond, Brian Davies, Dave Hayward, Sir Pat Higgins, Robert Lester, Wendy Lester, Vern Marshall, Warren Masters, Marion Prisk, Terry Rush, Murray Starnes, Trevor Weir, Alan White, Raymond Bennett. Archivists: Terry Rush, Jill Hogg, Russell Harris MCC Magazine Editor: Trevor Weir Page 7 of 37 FROM THE PRESIDENTS PEN… The New Zealand Landscape changed forever in March with the tragedy that happened in Christchurch on the 15th March. I was driving back from Tauranga and was running about an hour late for a dinner we were holding at home for a few friends, one of whom had their Mum and Dad come to NZ from overseas to visit and catch up with family, they were also there and were the main reason for the dinner as they were heading back home that weekend.